


Women's Place, Time and Space

by briannarose



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Victorian, thasmin, wlw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-15 22:17:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16941723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/briannarose/pseuds/briannarose
Summary: Thrown once again into the wrong place at the wrong time, The Doctor and her companions uncover some nasty happenings in Victorian England. Though a challenge, the ordeal brings upon a self realisation for the Doctor and Yaz alike.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the first little chapter of my fic! Hope you enjoy, more is on its way very soon <3  
> Love from  
> Brianna-Rose :,)

“Sorry about all that. Bit much, isn’t it? Your first encounter with everything beyond Earth has been a big blue ba- thing...,” the Doctor said, resisting the urge to call him every profanity under the sun, “a space racist, some sort of killer cloth, a m- I mean come on, pathetic! At least make it look scary! You could have had anything, big green trolls or something like that, but no, they go ‘ooh! I know! Cloths’!”

There was a silence, the Doctor deep in her thought and Ryan, Yasmin, and Graham just glanced at each other, confused. But by now, they were used to these moments. 

“I dunno, sounds a bit more like Shrek, that,” Ryan answered, “I think cloths were scary enough, they did almost squeeze us to death, that isn’t a bit scary?”

“Enough of your.. Space rants, Doc.. Where to next?” Graham chuckled, taking off his scarf and draping it over a railing, watching in fascination as the Doctor pressed a bunch of buttons, none of which he could make any sense of, but it sure did look impressive. 

The Tardis began to shake, not as violently as it would sometimes, which made a change. Ryan nearly fell over, but Graham caught him, helping him to steady himself. 

“Anyway!” the Doctor exclaimed, “there was a point to my whining, you know. What I was saying was, it was all a bit of rollercoaster, so I wanted to show you something else. The stars. Yaz's request!”

Another big jolt threw them all to one side, to which they all clumsily fell onto the floor of the Tardis, erupting into laughter as it came to a halt. 

The Doctor turned her head, looking toward Yaz who was sitting up. She didn’t catch her eye, but she smiled anyway.  
Though hard to admit, going to see the stars was, mostly, to impress Yaz. Without getting too overly emotional it was, kind of, a date. Selfishly, part of her wished it was just the two of them alone.  
Nothing was official, and the Doctor couldn’t be sure Yaz even liked women, but there was definitely a familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach when she even got close to her. It was strange, when being a man this was never something she had to think about.

With a small sigh, the Doctor brushed herself off and stood up, holding onto the front of the control panel to help regain balance. Strolling proudly toward the door, she stopped, turned to face them with the biggest grin on her delicate face. 

“On Earth, the year is in 4034. Not that it matters or anything, just thought it's impressive. We can go see if you want! The food is good," the Doctor exclaimed, looking at Yaz as she spoke; of course she wanted to take Yaz for dinner.  
She continued, "in exactly five seconds we’ll be in the perfect position to see this constellation for what it is. You couldn't see it from Earth, I think only I know about it, and now you do too. It depicts,” she said excitedly, opening the door from behind her, “a-“

“Doctor..” Graham said, with a nervous chuckle, “we definitely aren’t in space.. Looks like Earth really. And if this is the 41st century, we've regressed a fair bit. Could be because of global warming I suppose, got rid of cars?”

Her face fell, into that pout she sometimes did, swiftly turning to look. She poked her head out of the Tardis, looking around before just as quickly coming back inside, closing the doors.  
“Right. Slight error. Very close. Nearly had it that time.. Sorry gang.. fam..” 

Yaz walked towards the door, she wanted to see for herself where they had landed, this was all so fascinating. If the Doctor picked her up outside her flat, and dropped her off in the Ponds Forge sports centre nearby, she’d be just as chuffed. Who else could do that, in a blue box? 

The Doctor definitely forgot how easily impressed humans could be, especially when so new to this. 

“We are on Earth, I think! We’re in, is this London? In the year.. Well, a long time ago. Victorian London, I think, and its snowing!” Yaz said in excitement. When done having a peek, her brown ponytail was dotted with snowflakes. 

Checking what the Tardis was saying, and adjusting the controls necessary, the Doctor looked up at Yaz with a beam. 

“Clever girl. 1852, London. And, even better, nearly Christmas! I love Christmas! However, that’s not what we wanted, so if you want to use your, what’s it called, e phone? To take some pictures go ahead. But don’t post them! Yes, I mean you Ryan Sinclair! I’ve seen your account on.. what is it?.. facebrick!”

“Facebook." he laughed, "and it was one time, alright? No one thought it was real anyway,” Ryan whined, trying to defend his actions, but the Doctor only shook her head in response, giving him a warning, almost motherly, glare.

Yaz walked towards the door again, hopeful. The stars sounded great, but equally, Victorian London was right behind the door, and the idea of that was fascinating, surreal. 

“Okay, next attempt. I’ve got it this time, I really have. If this old girl would just cooperate..” the Doctor said, deep in concentration, her tongue peeking out as she reached across the many buttons and levers, expertly, she knew exactly what she was doing and in the right sequence, from the top of her head. 

“Actually, Doctor. Maybe we could stay? You haven’t brought us here before, yet. I’d love to go outside and explore, spend some time here? It’s history, but all around us, not just through a text book. It’s amazing,” Yaz said, a sparkle in her eye. 

Looking around, she tried to catch Graham or Ryan’s gaze, to see if they were fine with staying too.  
Of course, anything Yaz wanted the Doctor would go above and beyond to achieve, there was a little growing obsession there, though she did try her best to brush it off and push away any crush she could be developing. It had never ended well, and if this continued her only choice would be to never see Yaz again, to protect her. That was the most loving act the Doctor could give, as saddening as it might have been. 

Graham nodded, and Ryan chimed in too, agreeing with Yaz. What reason was there not to stay? This was Victorian London, just as impressive as anything else the Doctor could show them. And, if they just avoided trouble this time, they could have a good time here. Explore, mingle, see everything for themselves, get an experience no one else they knew could ever have. 

“Then, great! But, we can’t go out there looking like this, we need to dress the part, y’know, blend in,” the Doctor said, “I’ve got plenty of stuff, it's not just this one floor you know! And you thought this bit was cool,”

“Alright, show off,” Yaz grinned, and the Doctor gave that same toothy smile right back at her, impulsively taking her hand and leading the way down a winding staircase, unveiling what looked like an entire new world, the most impressive walk-in-wardrobe anyone could ever see. Just to reach some of it, ladders were needed. 

Letting go of Yaz’s hand, so casually, though it made the lady blush profusely, the Doctor flicked through articles of clothing like pages, pulling the occasional garment out by the hanger every now and then, laying them out in a pile. She soon moved on to a box full of hats, scarves..

“And, ah, lingerie. Marilyn always left her stuff behind, sometimes I think she did it on purpose,’ the Doctor said, cheeks red as she tried to explain what everyone had seen her pull out.

“Marilyn?” Ryan questioned, the idea was there, but just to confirm. After all, the Doctor had mentioned her friendships with Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra.. 

“Monroe. Lovely lady. She left these behind last time we.." she blushed, "anyway, everyone choose some clothes, get yourselves dressed. But not this, Graham. I look great in it. Well I did, two, three faces ago? We'll see” the Doctor continued, plucking the garment Graham had picked out, straight from his hands. She wanted that one for herself, hadn’t worn it in a while.

She wasn’t used to this whole new experience just yet, wearing a dress wasn’t quite her thing, mostly for its practicality. Even with the intention of a trouble-free day out, a dress was just going to complicate things, and with there being that off-chance ever present of something popping up, it just wasn’t worth it in any context. 

They worked out a way to do this quickly, turning their backs to each other and getting dressed up. Yaz needed a bit of help, being the only one in a Victorian dress, which was a very exciting moment for her. The Doctor helped her, lacing up the corset for her, making sure everything was just right, not too uncomfortable. 

“You can always go out in a suit like me, you’d be surprised how many women went unnoticed dressed as men,” the Doctor said, but Yaz shook her head.

“It’s fine, this is beautiful,” she grinned, lifting up the very front of the dress, walking towards the body length mirror and twirling around to have a good look at it in all its detail. It was a muted emerald green, white frills and lace to amp it up, it definitely looked expensive. The tone of the green complimented her skin beautifully.  
Hands in the pockets of her Victorian suit, pinstriped deep burgundy, pocket watch hanging from the breast pocket, and a top hat to pull together the look, the Doctor strolled along to Yasmin, taking off her hat gently.

“Now, I’m no hair stylist by any means, but I think I can do something,” she said, her blonde hair was tucked up into the hat, pinned back with grips. She popped a few of the grips between her lips to free her hands while she took down Yaz's hair from the ponytail. She looked beautiful with her hair down, it made the Doctor wonder why she didn't sometimes. She took her time in creating an average, but good enough, up-do, pinning up Yasmin’s dark waves before she put the hat back onto her head carefully. Seeing this era many times, enjoying the company of a woman every now and then, she'd picked up a few tricks from being so observant.

Yaz looked at herself in the mirror, giggling as she took in the details for the last time before they’d head out, it was so surreal to think she was about to live the life of someone in an era like this for today, and tomorrow be back in her flat in Sheffield. Meeting the Doctor had truly been the best thing to happen to her, sometimes an average life in Sheffield just wasn’t enough, it wasn’t as fulfilling as these adventures were. 

“Now, are you ready?” The Doctor grinned, her figure coming into view in the mirror as she stood beside Yaz, her hands in the pockets of her trousers, pushing the blazer to the sides a little. They each took a, not so subtle, moment to look each other up and down.  
“More than ready, Doctor.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thankyou for reading so far! 500 hits and 70 kudos seems like SO MANY! maybe it isn't, I am new to this website, but still! thanks a ton lovelies! Enjoy.

The blue doors were flung open with a creak. 

“You first,” she said, gesturing for Yaz to go, followed by Ryan and Graham. She locked up behind her, looking around, her hands in the pockets of her tailored trousers, as the snow fell. She'd missed this era, not often did she get to just go somewhere solely to enjoy herself. More so than looking at the surroundings, because she had seen it before, she took pleasure in admiring the reactions of her friends. The one thing that could never get old, in all of her years doing this routinely, was the feeling of fulfilment it gave her to see the happiness she could bring.

Telling people she loved them was hard, most notably because there was that ever present inevitability of losing them, in what felt like minutes of having them around. But the one thing that did come naturally, though maybe not the words themselves, was showing her love through giving. And nothing could be more giving, than to show someone the ins and outs of the universe. 

Besides, the Victorian atmosphere at Christmas time could never lose its novelty, the era was one in particular the Doctor had a soft spot for. Plus, if her companions wanted to go and see it, the Doctor was never one to refuse. 

Yaz looked around, her grin never faltering, not even for a second. She found this so surreal. The snow was slowly falling around them, flakes landing on the green hat she wore. Looking around, the city was so full of life, everything seemed so magical especially at this time of year.

“Christmas Eve.” The Doctor said, gesturing for them to walk ahead of her, leaving this little adventure in their hands for now. Sometimes it was nice to relax, hand over the reins for a while. She’d seen this many times, the experience was entirely for her friends. 

“Chestnuts, get some roast chestnuts!” one little boy called out, a stall set up beside him, where a man, whom looked to be his father, was roasting the chestnuts.

The smell of them filled the air and Graham, of course, was the first to stroll up. He patted down his pockets when the realisation hit him that he didn’t have money, and actually didn’t know what the money of this time even looked like to begin with. He sighed hard and turned around, the Doctor giving him a knowing nod, chuckling under her breath. 

“Good job I came prepared, isn’t it?” the Doctor said, pulling out a few coins from her pocket, counting out the right change.

Her attention wandered when she heard a voice, there was a feeling that suddenly hit her, right in the pit of her stomach. She always trusted her instincts, throughout her life she had come to learn that they were usually right. Something just felt wrong. 

“Daily news! Epidemic swipes the country! Today’s paper! You won’t find ‘em this price anywhere else!” a voice was calling, repetitively. Epidemic. The Doctor couldn’t think of what happened in this year, 1852, that the old man could be talking about. 

Investigation was imperative here, something was attacking London, perhaps England, perhaps the world. The severity of this was unknown, and this kind of uncertainty gave the Doctor the most terrible feeling. And, with this being the headline, it meant whatever this epidemic was, it already hit. People must have already fallen victim to it, and the possibility of arriving too late broke her heart. 

She turned around to look, walking swiftly to the old man and squinting as she analysed the front page. Her eyes widened, and she stuffed the coins back into her pocket frantically, to which Graham raised his arms in frustration, he seemed to never have the change to get himself even just a snack before he had to go aid in saving the world. It really was a pain. 

"No. No, no, no, this shouldn't be happening. This didn't happen, it didn't, something is going on. Something powerful, someone..," the Doctor said, nose scrunched up for a moment as she read quickly, brows furrowing.

Were chestnuts too much to ask, before an alien of some kind felt the need to try and take over the Earth? 

“Doc. Chestnuts.” 

“Granddad. Not now.” Ryan said, “something’s not right, clearly.”

“I’ll take a paper please,” the Doctor said after a moment of gawking at the front page, slight blush on her cheeks. The man was looking at her like she was crazy. Handing over a few coins, the ones she would have used for some chestnuts, she took a paper and brought it back to the group, leading them into an alley way. They needed a place to discuss, figure out some sort of plan of action.

Quickly, the four of them huddled together, leaning in close to get a view of the paper. There was a picture of people in government, all seeming very normal. No aliens in sight, at first glance it seemed like it would be a report on, perhaps, the flu. But the Doctor's instinct told her otherwise. 

“Epidemic..” Ryan mumbled as he read the heading, brows knitted together in concentration, “demons are walking among us. Women, stay safe, look for these signs, and report immediately. Your safety is at risk of these who have risen from hellfire.”

Ryan looked up from reading, “okay, so demons? Some sort of alien has rocked up in Victorian London then?”

“No,” the Doctor said, “someone is messing with us. Keep reading. The next line, "these women, who call themselves Lesbians, are plaguing our nation’” she said, the anger was so obvious as she spat out those words. Heat radiated from her, pure, unquestionable anger. The Doctor had been teetering on the edge of snapping, and it was looking like this could be it. 

The worst part, this never happened. Someone had caused something to change, somehow. 

And the next few lines shocked them all as the Doctor read them out, unable to finish.   
They gave detail on the current discussions in parliament; the introduction of death penalty for lesbians. For gay men, this was in place, but for women they had fallen under the radar. 

Government officials had refused to implement this punishment, one because they believed it would only glamorise it, make it more appealing to young women. And two, because Queen Victoria, when confronted with the idea, refused all belief that ‘ladies would do such a thing’. The sheer disbelief that these women were out there, the denial of their existence, is what protected them.

But someone didn’t like that, someone wanted things to change. Someone had come here, disguised themselves, with all intention of causing utter havoc. Whether this attack was on women, or specifically on the Gay Community, it was too soon to tell.

But regardless, while ever the Doctor was here, she wasn’t going to let it happen. 

“We need some kind of way into parliament, something like... Well, whoever is doing this has gotten their way in, so it can’t have been difficult. I mean come on, when has a bigot ever been smart?” Ryan said, chuckling as he scooted closer to the Doctor, to get a better look at the paper. 

“Wait, Doctor, can I have that for a sec?” he mumbled, taking it from her hands slowly as he leaned in closer, intensely focused on the image of one man, someone seemingly high up in government.   
“I know him. I know that face.. I think I know what’s going on. And it might be my fault.. Again.”


End file.
